SC Freiburg had Munich on the verge of defeat – but then Tom Bischof and Lennart Karl made a comeback that only FC Bayern can pull off. After the goals from Johan Manzambi (46th minute) and Lucas Höler (71st), Bishop with two long-range shots (81st/90th+2) and Karl (90th+9) gave the Bundesliga leaders a 3-2 (0-0) victory.
“That moment, how we celebrated with the entire team, gave me goosebumps. That was something very special for us.”said the winning goalscorer in the Sportschau interview. “It was very difficult for us, Freiburg didn’t do a bad job, they pressed us well. The win is all the better for us because we came back with the mentality. We now hope that we can also win against Real Madrid.”
Bayern in slow motion, Neuer trumps
Before the game, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany underlined what was already clear: the record champions’ priority was the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday in Madrid (9 p.m.). Kompany had to do without Harry Kane, but he voluntarily put Dayot Upamecano, Konrad Laimer, Aleksandar Pavlovic and, above all, Michael Olise on the bench – and things went accordingly slowly.
Freiburg defended Munich man-to-man across the entire field, and because the Kompany team didn’t show the footballing esprit of the previous season, that was enough to gain the upper hand. Coach Julian Schuster’s team often won the ball in the opponent’s half, but things first became really dangerous after a counterattack. Philipp Treu missed this great opportunity to take the lead from ten meters (15th).
Afterwards, Bayern at least managed to correct their mistakes, although there was still little going forward. But Manuel Neuer showed in the first game after his 40th birthday that he is still a really good goalkeeper. The national goalkeeper showed outstanding reflexes both after Lucas Höler’s volley (28th) and after Philipp Lienhart’s header (34th) – both times the situation was blown off, but the actions were still remarkable.
Freiburg’s Manzambi does it even better than Gnabry
Only then did the people in front of him wake up and create a few chances. First Lennart Karl was denied by Noah Atubolu and then Tom Bischof missed after an overhead kick from Luis Diaz (43′), then a brilliant shot from 25 meters from Serge Gnabry whizzed just past the Freiburg goal (45′).
Immediately after half-time, Johan Manzambi showed how to do it better from a distance. The Swiss curled the ball from 23 meters with a lot of effort around two Bayern defenders and into the corner. Neuer only saw the shot very late, had no chance at all and therefore didn’t react at all (46th). So Bavarian passivity was punished.
Höler forgives him Top-class double pack for Freiburg
The people of Munich were happy that the result didn’t become clearer shortly afterwards. Freiburg played through on the right side and Höler was free to finish after a low cross, but shot well over (52′). The striker’s chance was at least as good just two minutes later when he had the ball lying free on the penalty spot and shot past (54′).
After these situations, Kompany’s patience was at an end, he brought Pavlovic, Laimer and Olise into the game – and with his first action the Frenchman missed the huge opportunity to equalize: After a cross, Olise pushed the ball past the goal (57th). But that was it for the dangerous Bayern moments.
Neuer puts Höler up to make it 2-0, then Munich’s bishop comes
And then her best friend up to that point also made a mistake. After a corner, Neuer very unfortunately defended the ball right at the feet of Höler, who didn’t miss his fourth big chance of the game and pushed it into the empty goal (71′). After his great exploits in the first half, the 40-year-old was now part of the previously poor dress rehearsal for the game in Madrid.
But Bayern are working to make sure that something changes. At first Atubolu was able to save against Olise (77th) and Diaz (80th), but the Freiburg goalkeeper had no chance when Bishop shot to make it 1-2 (81st). And with that, the home win suddenly shaky. Atubolu also saved after a shot from Joshua Kimmich (84th) – but only for now.
Karl ensures Bayern ecstasy
In the second minute of stoppage time, Bishop was allowed to take measures and again he sank the ball right into the corner, again Atubolu had no chance. But anyone who knows Bayern knows that that wasn’t enough for them – and so they actually got the victory. Kimmich played a dream pass to Alphonso Davies, whose cross pass Karl shot into the empty goal in the ninth minute of stoppage time. The Munich team won despite being 0-2 behind.
“We played against a very strong Freiburg. I knew that this team fought incredibly well. That’s why I’m happy that we got the three points and that we didn’t play with too much Real Madrid in mind in the end.”said Kompany in the Sportschau interview.
“I was surprised by the eight minutes of injury time.”said Freiburg coach Schuster, who was not dissatisfied with his team’s overall performance despite the defeat: “The boys have invested an incredible amount and that’s exactly what you have to do.”
Kompany’s team is heading into the summit meeting in Madrid with a huge tailwind – thanks to the 100th Bundesliga goal this season – and the league continues on Saturday at FC St. Pauli (6.30 p.m.). After the setback, Freiburg will play their next game a day later at Mainz 05 (7.30 p.m.).
